Town News

We just had a nice four hour break from electricity here at headquarters on Cedar Street. Very peaceful, except for the generator running the entire time at a nearby property.

Looks like lots of people were taken offline:

“A tree fell on a line snapping wires & poles in Brattleboro. Crews making repairs for 4500 out. Eta by 11:30 pm.” say GMP.

Notice to Taxpayers

The taxpayers of the Town of Brattleboro are hereby notified and warned that Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes assessed upon the Grand List of 2015 are now due and payable to the Town Treasurer at the Treasurer’s Office in the Brattleboro Municipal Center, 230 Main Street, Suite 111, Brattleboro, Vermont, in four equal installments as follows:

1st Installment due August 17, 2015
2nd Installment due November 16, 2015
3rd Installment due February 16, 2016
4th Installment due May 16, 2016

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at 7:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The Brattleboro Selectboard heard a range of reports at their first regular meeting of July, from preliminary experiences regarding Pay As You Throw, to the work of our designated downtown organization.

Brattleboro’s new tax rate was set, financing for recent vehicle purchases was approved, the formation of the Our Town Steering Committee was postponed to the next meeting, community members were appointed to a variety of other committees, and more.

BRATTLEBORO – On May 19th, the Brattleboro Selectboard approved $27,000 for use over the next three years by the Apartments in Homes (AIH) program, an initiative of Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing (BAAH). The funds will be used to create nine new apartments in single family homes in Brattleboro by providing grants of up to $4,000 ($3,000 per unit from the Town and $1,000 from BAAH) to assist with the cost of constructing a separate living unit within their home.

Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast                                                                          
June 19,  2015
Gibson-Aiken Center  

Having a “Brattleboro Solar Summer”?

At their first regular meetiing in July, the Brattleboro Selectboard will hear from the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, (formerly the Downtown Alliance, formerly Building a Better Brattleboro,) about their plans for a proposed park in Harmony Lot.

The board will also set the tax rate for FY16 property taxes, appoint the Our Town phase III screening committee, get an update on Pay As You Throw, have a discussion about “Entergy money,” and more. You can attend in person or watch on BCTV. You can also bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

The Brattleboro ADA Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, July 10, 2015 at 10:00am at the Marlboro College Graduate Center in the VCIL conference room.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be held at the New England House
(restaurant), 254 Marlboro Road, on Thursday, July 9^th at 6:00 PM. After a review of the treasury report, the WBA will tackle organizational issues such as progress toward making the group officially non-profit.  There will also be discussion regarding notification to abutters when public hearings affect property owned by a co-operative or collective.  The group will also take up the idea of forming a West B Welcoming Program. Another topic will be how best to recognize beautification efforts.

The Brattleboro Selectboard held a special meeting Tuesday evening to take care of a bit of regular business, but primarily to hear about and discuss the new zoning and land use regulations being proposed for adoption. If all goes according to plan, the new regulations will go into effect this fall.

Liquor Commissioners

The Brattleboro Selectboard, acting as Liquor Commissioners, granted a special events permit to Hermit Thrush Brewery for a Brewery Pint Night. Two actually, one scheduled for July 3 and another for July 24.

In observance of the July 4th holiday, all Town offices will be closed on Friday, July 3, 2015, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Friday, July 3 and Saturday, July 4. All other violations will be enforced.

Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Friday, July 3, and Saturday, July 4.

BRATTLEBORO — The “By the People: Brattleboro Goes Fourth” citizens committee invites the public to the town’s 42nd annual Independence Day celebration, set for Saturday, July 4, with a morning parade downtown and afternoon and evening program of family activities and fireworks at Living Memorial Park.

Some 50 marching units — including the Brattleboro American Legion and Brattleboro Union High School bands, veterans, civic and youth groups — will kick off the festivities at 10 a.m. with a parade along Canal and Main streets to the town Common.

Brattleboro’s Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, this year’s parade sponsor, will lead the march with its giant American flag, while local personality Alfred Hughes Jr. will conclude the event by debuting his annual top-secret gown.

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 5:30pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The Brattleboro Traffic Safety Committee will meet on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 at 8:30am in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

The Brattleboro Citizen Police Communications Committee (CPCC) will meet on Monday, June 22, 2015 at 5:30pm at the Brooks Memorial Library in the community room.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

Hello my fellow citizens!  This is another thread to talk about the new Pay As You Throw system of trash disposal. The intention here is practical; what are your strategies for coping with this transition?  Composting and Recycling are key, this is a given.  So what’s your plan?  We signed up early on for curbside compost collection.  It is awesome.  For a family of four, weekly pickup of recycling and compost has reduced our trash accumulation to 2 to 3 price chopper plastic bag’s worth. It’s kind of amazing,actually. 

The Town of Brattleboro sent out a postcard to town residents with information about the upcoming changes to the way our trash is bagged.

Next week is the final week for putting out trash in non-paid bags. PAYT starts June 29th.

At their regular Tuesday meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard dealt primarily with money issues — spending, granting, analyzing, raising, applying for, and otherwise interacting with it. It wasn’t always the main topic of discussion, but it was an undercurrent. Much of it was good news, too.

For example, it was announced that over $50,000 has been allocated for artists applying to fulfill the public arts component of the NEA Our Town grant, and requests for proposals will be out shortly. Many Town employees will receive raises. 

The Brattleboro Selectboard also learned about keeping water clean, discussed cable access, purchased a variety of  vehicles, and approved contracts for new roads and sidewalks. 

Should dogs be punished for the human’s behavior? This and more below.